Miles Hiked 57.8
Elevation 1,794 feet
Miles Hiked Today 11.0
11/8/2025
Yesterday, I called the Queen Wilhelmina Lodge to see if they had any rooms available. I was not very confident that I would get one seeing as how it was a Saturday night. And I was right – nothing. Nevertheless, I was going to head for the lodge anyway and get breakfast.
By the time it was light enough, 6:15 a.m., I was on my way. It was about five and a half miles to the lodge, and I figured I’d get there by 9:00 a.m. . The trail wasn’t too bad; although all those the rocks are still there. I was able to make good time and indeed did arrive at 9:00 a.m. .
After cleaning up a little bit, I headed for the restaurant. They have a breakfast buffet, which looked good to me. I loaded up with eggs, bacon and sausage. They also had a good selection of fruit, which I dumped into a bowl. A big glass of ice water and some hot tea and I was ready to go. I ate a lot. The hiker hunger is alive. Would you believe the pill for breakfast was only 15 and a half dollars. Just about anywhere else, I would have been paying close to $30.
The weather today was supposed to be 80° and clear. It was certainly clear and it did feel like 80°. The lodge was really busy. I asked at the front desk about a room again and they kind of laughed at me. Nice try.
After breakfast, I went into a large area with many over stuffed chairs. There were plenty of electrical outlets, so I took the opportunity to charge my electronics. There were windows in the area where I was sitting, and I watched a large procession of cars coming in. It was stop and go – bumper to bumper with few open parking spaces. I guess that’s why I couldn’t get a room for the night. Their clientele is heavily retired people. I would say there were 90 to 10 older to younger people in the lodge. While I was there, a bus came in and it unloaded, with all the people that were on board heading for the restaurant. When I was eating breakfast, I only saw one waitress. If that was the case for lunch, she probably was tearing her hair out when she saw the crowd.
I left the Lodge at 1:00 p.m. . There were 6 miles to go to a shelter I planned to stay for the night. The hope was that I could get there before dark. The trail about a mile after leaving the lodge turned into a rocky mess similar to what I encountered the first and second day I hiked. After a couple of miles the rocks were still there but smaller and I was able to make better time.
At 5:00 p.m. exactly I arrived at the Black Fort Mountain Shelter. Once again I’ll be spending the night alone, which suits me. It’s supposed to get cold tonight down to almost freezing. Tomorrow night and the next night the temperatures are supposed to be below freezing. That is when I’ll find out how good my sleeping bag is.
